1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a printing control device for controlling a printer that prints code images, and to a printer driver, a conversion device, a printer, a printing system, a control method for a printing control device, and a control method for a printer.
2. Related Art
Code images (code symbols) such as a barcode are used in the retail and distribution industries as an effective means of identifying people and goods. With information being used in more ways and identification information becoming more complex, the amount of information contained in such code images is on the rise. While computers and other information processing devices can handle such large amounts of information easily, the people that handle and use such goods (referred to as the “user” below) cannot easily read and know the information contained in a particular code image, and when cautionary information about the handling of a product or good is contained in the code image, conveying this information accurately to the user is difficult.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2003-182160 therefore teaches technology for printing for a attribute data (an essential text string) contained in the barcode data that is needed by the user in a format that is different from the other information (an added text string). This has the advantage of enabling the user to accurately and quickly read the essential text string.
In practical everyday use, however, the user does not always need the same attribute data. For example, attribute data such as the expiration date printed on a label affixed to products in a supermarket is extremely important in the case of fresh foods and prepared foods, but is not as important with dried goods and other products with a long shelf life. More specifically, the degree of importance of the same attribute data varies according to other conditions such as what the actual product is and the date or time of sale. The literature is silent, however, regarding conditionally changing the printing format of attribute data contained in a code image.